Alfred T. Schofield - Studies in Highest Thought (1911)

7/27/2019 Alfred T. Schofield - Studies in Highest Thought (1911)

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^\

tihvaxy ofChe Cheolojicd ^emmarjoPRINCETON NEW JERSEY

d^D"

PRESENTED BYThe Estate of theRev* John B. V7iedinger

BV 4501 .S324 1911Schofield, A. T. 1846-1929.Studies in the highestthought


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STUDIES IN THEHIGHEST THOUGHT


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STUDIES IN ife^T' 2 1948HIGHEST THOUclSteiLSgSS^BY

A. T. "SCHOFIELD, M.D.AUTHOR OF "the UNCONSCIOUS MIND," "tHE

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD," " CHRISTIAN SANITY,""the fourth DIMENSION," ETC.

'ALTIORA PETO'

HODDER & STOUGHTONNEW YORKGEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY


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COPYMGHT, 19HBYGeoeg H. DoBAia Coupim


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PREFACETHESE Studies were given by request at

the Alliance Club, London, and are nowpublished in book-form in response to thewishes of many friends. They are of courseelementary and introductory, but as theyhave for their subject the relation of thefinite to the Infinite, of man to God, I haveventured to use the superlative in connectionwith them.There is no question that the higher

mysteries of the Christian faith transcendboth in depth and height all the boastedwisdom of the East, and even in these briefStudies sublime themes are touched uponthat awaken our deepest feelings of reverenceand of awe.There is a great love of the mysterious

abroad to-day, and it is hoped that some whomay be thus attracted to these Studies maypursue them until they reach the end of allmystery in the Divine.


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VI PREFACEThe Studies are here given as delivered,

with but few necessary changes; and thereader must pardon the abrupt and some-what dogmatic tone that may characterisethe spoken more than it does the writtenword.

It is hoped that in spite of all imperfectionof style the subject matter may appeal toreaders of many shades of thought andbelief.

A. T. SCHOFIELD, M.D.19 Harley Street, London, W.,

Easter, 191 1.


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INTRODUCTORY


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INTRODUCTORYDEGREES OF THOUGHT

THOUGHTS and mental activities of all f^^^/;//^*^j^sorts are becoming of increasing inter- thought,

est every day. For long ages nothing wasknown about them and they were deemedmatters of great obscurity and little inter-est. But now I have before me severalbooks devoted to their consideration andclassification. I have also one that regardsthem as possessing definite extension in spaceand as having various forms and appear-ances significant of their character. Theyare also said to possess various colours, mostlyof a very vivid and striking character.

I have, for instance, the form and colours "^^""f^*' extensionof the thoughts of two people observing a^'^'^ colour,street accident as said to be seen by a "sen-sitive" observer. The one convejdng onlyvague sympathy is not nearly so bright ordefinite a thought-form as that from an


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xii INTRODUCTORYactive helper. These and other interestingmatters relating to thought are becomingthe subject of much attention, and althoughall such new and startling ideas are rightlyreceived with great caution, it would be rashin the present day to assert there is nothingin them.

d?g?e*es of ^^ ^^ ^^^' howcver, with the shapes andthought, colours of thoughts (if indeed they possess

any) that we are occupied here. It is ratherwith the different planes or degrees ofthought of which, as we know, there arethree : positive thought, comparative thought,and superlative thought. The positive or

The posi- high thinking is generally coupled with plaintive-high ^ r .j-ji-^^- 1thought, or spare hvmg, and indeed it is commonlyrecognised that for all effective thinking toomuch of the material is a distinct hindrance.Thought on this plane would include all

relating to ordinary study of an elevatingnature, and would be connected with highaims and a noble life. It is supposed toflourish in embryo amongst the more studi-ous of our undergraduates at the Univer-sities, and to be the ordinary stock-in-tradeof professors, philosophers, statesmen, poets,and men of letters.


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INTRODUCTORY xiiiThe next degree, or "Higher Thought," is^hecoM-

. ' a ^ o 7 parativeof a very different order, and is the badge iiigheror title of a distinct school that has latelysprung into existence, being largely recruited,if not indeed originating, from the other sideof the Atlantic. It is a distinct variety ofthe genus known as Christian Science, and isakin in many respects to the New Thought,Theosophy, and similar cults.

It states in their prospectus that "theHigher Thought recognises the true natureof man and the power of his thought to influ-ence the conditions of man's Hfe." This verymodest programme, however, by no meanscovers the extent of the Higher Thought,which ranges far and wide over the wholefield of occult phenomena.There can be no doubt whatever of the

earnestness and zeal with which this cultis pursued and its followers are inspired.The object, too, is clear: to develop the ^^^ objectaihuman to the utmost limit of which humanityis capable by raising his powers to the higheststate of efficiency. All means are invokedto this end; telepathy," thought transference,psychometry, thought concentration are eachof them developments in this direction.


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3dv INTRODUCTORYTRespira- The last, we are told, can be greatlythought strengthened by slow and deep respiration;and if these can be brought down to only

two or three in the minute the power ofthought gained is very great. Thought im-ages (it is said) can then be built up andthe thoughts themselves so concentrated andbrought to a focus that they can be pro-jected in any desired direction so as to influ-ence people at a distance.

All this is most interesting and a certainpercentage of it is doubtless true. Never-theless, although the wonders of the "HigherThought" are far greater than I have indi-cated, even when it reaches its utmost Umitthere is still room for one degree higherthe superlative.

I have therefore, greatly daring, taken thisThe super- superlative as indicating the range of thoughthighest faintly indicated in these few brief Studies.The essential difference between the highest

thought and the higher, which is really thejustification for the use of the superlative,is that whereas the latter has man and hiswill as the objective, the former is primarilyconcerned with God and His will.It may doubtless be objected by some that


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INTRODUCTORY XVanother difference of some importance is thatthe former is within our power to study, aswe have all the facts at our disposal, butthat regarding the latter we know nothing.Of course such an assertion might be

equally made of any science whose text-bookswere set aside, and I have clearly shownelsewhere* that the Bible cannot be regarded The Bible*-' a Divineultimately as a human production, but thatreveiatioait contains a full revelation of the true Godand of man's relations to Him.The grounds on which this is maintained

is the unparalleled circulation and perennialvitality of the Bible, which after 2000 yearshas no rival whatever in any other bookon earth; its proved force in its transform-ing power and character, so that cruel sav-^J'^^^^^ages become by its influence alone changedinto kind and noble men; and the uniquecharacters and thoughts it contains theconception of Jesus Christ, the real force of''love, eternity, trinity," etc., being foundnowhere else.

For these and many other reasons we regardthe Bible as a real revelation from God to

*The Mystery of the Book. id. Morgan and Scott,Ltd.


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XVI INTRODUCTORYman and a complete manual of the "HighestThought.''

It seems, too, that now is the psychologicalmoment for this assertion and for Studies onthis special plane.

?thc p'en^ The pendulum has swung well over fromduium. the material to the mystic; and unsatisfied

hearts, tired of the commonplaces so oftenoffered them in the name of Religion, anddisgusted with the cheap types of Christianformalism that everywhere abound, are seek-ing, seeking earnestly and persistently, asthey never sought before, for the true God,for the ultimate Good, for the meaning andend of life. The pity is that they turn fromthe Bible as from some shibboleth they areweary of hearing, simply because they arereally ignorant of its Divine directness andsimplicity.Even the amazing mysteries of the incarna-

tion, life, and passion of our Lord Jesus Christhave been so cheapened and popularised as to

The degra- lose most of their majesty and saving power.dation of ,, , ,- , , imChristian- My feeungs, as I write this, are very likeity. what I often experience m my consulting

room, where I have to treat a certain class ofdisease for which a "rest cure" is essential.


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INTRODUCTORY xviiYears ago one could recommend and carry

this out, without doubt or difficulty; butnow it is far otherwise.

It has become such an absolute common-place, so deteriorated in its methods anddetails, so popularised and vulgarised and Vulgarisedcarried out so inefficiently and carelessly treatment,that I find now I have often to apologisefor mentioning it, and experience great diffi-culty in restoring the shattered faith in itsefficacy. Many, indeed, go away uncuredbecause they cannot be persuaded to under-take again what they have already triedineffectually.

It is so here in a still greater degree. As Iwrite these lines I am absolutely certain thatChrist and Christianity as revealed in theBible, and not as debased and degradedby our modern tenets and practices, con-stitutes a perfect panacea for the deeper ills ^^^ p^'^^-

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ cea of trueof mankind, and would bring light and joy religion. -into thousands of distressed lives.There is undoubtedly a craving everywhere

for reality and for genuine relief and restfor the burdened soul and conscience; andI can only hope that in the attempt I heremake to present the old evangel in a some-


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xviii INTRODUCTORYwhat modern dress, and to depict some ofthe little known glories of the spirit life, thatI may be able to present clearly withoutdistortion some glorious truths of the High-est Thought.


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS


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FIRST STUDYTHE FATHER OF SPIRITS

IN entering upon the first of these StudiesI may briefly recall the essential differencebetween the comparative and superlative inj?j^*'^^'

thought. The Higher Thought " recognises tween thethe true nature of man and the power of his tive and

. . . . , superla-thought to influence the condition oi man s tive.life" a study that centres round humanity.The object of the Highest Thought maybe stated in the same words, merely substi-

tuting "God for "man." It "recognises thetrue nature of God and the power of Histhought to influence the condition of man'slife" a study that centres round Divinity.

Turning to our first theme, "The Father of Subjection. . . to theSpirits," I will read the one verse that em- Father ofbodies in so many words my subject in this ^^'" ^'Study. It is in Hebrews xii. 9: "PFe had,the fathers of our flesh," it says, "to chastenus, and we gave them reverence." These areour earthly parents. Then follow these3


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4 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTwords: "Shall we not much rather beIN SUBJECTION UNTO THE FATHER OF SPIRITS,AND LIVE?"The Father of spirits, or, as the margin

says quite correctly, ^'The Father of ourspirits r^ That is a phrase that is soprofound that I feel sure that few havefathomed it. Let me repeat the words.^'Shall we not" asks the unknown writerof this epistle, I think probably the ApostlePaul, "much rather be in subjection unto theFather of our spirits, and live?" I willventure to say that none, however great

Fulness of têir attainments, know in its fullest senselife the ...result. what Hfe means until they know what it is

to be in subjection to the Father of theirspirits.This is a deep saying, and the more we

ponder it the better we Uke it and thetruer we find it: we feel that it must be soin the nature of things. Of course the Fatherof spirits has a general and also a specialmeaning. He is both God and Father. In ageneral sense "in Him we live and move andhave our being."

Father of jjg jg ^-j^g Father of our spirits: thereforespirit, soul, 'ând body, -ê livc. Hc is the Father of our souls, ani-


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS $mal life, author of our energies: thereforewe move. He is the Father, in a sense, ofour bodies: therefore we live and breathephysically, "God in whose hand" saidDaniel, at Belshazzar's feast, "thy breath is,hast thou not glorified."

Consider the three. The God of ourspirits gives Life. The God of our souls givesMovement. The God of our bodies givesExistence the tripartite nature of manunited in the most profound psychological Pjo^^


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6 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTFree will is yj-^crdom. Made in the likeness of God weasserted '^here. are endowed with free will. Pundits andthose who split hairs and words may deny-

that we have free will. Each one of us,however, is quite conscious that we are freeto read this book or no, and that we canstop when we like.Now having this free will, instead of beingThis will in subjection to this Father of spirits, it is

03-11 DC ^ , _ -used for quite Open to us to deny, to ignore, to rebel,to offend against Him; to destroy, to defile,to degrade ourselves. All who do this cannever know in its full sense the meaning ofthe simple word "Life." But this will canbe used for our good and for God's glory.Therefore our quest is, how to be so truly insubjection to the Father of spirits that wemay have Hfe, and have life more abund-antly.

Why not We havc at best only a limited number ofenjoy hie "^more? years yet of life in London, or in the country

where we reside. Why should not that lifebe of the fullest, best, and noblest character?Why should not we enjoy Hfe to an extentwe never have yet experienced, and reachan ideal that we have never yet conceived?This may be attained by Studies in the


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 7Highest Thought, in that thought which isconcerned with the relations of God andMan.Now what God requires from us are three ^g^j^.^^things justice, mercy, and humihty. I justice,find the whole duty of man crystallised in humility,that wonderful verse in Micah vi. 8: "iJehath shewed thee, O man, what is good: andwhat doth the Lord require of thee, hut to dojustly, and to love mercy, and to walk humblywith thy God." The man who does these inthe perfection to which the scripture herealludes is a man who pleases God and a manwho walks with God. But although that iswhat God requires of us, what we require inorder to be able to perfectly fulfil those threeduties is power, and will, and faith. God ^^ require^ ' ' power,requires from us ethics and good works; towi.'i, andproduce these we require a surrendered willand a quickening faith.Once our wills are captured, the citadel of

our being is His, and from that moment truehappiness begins in our souls. It is thecapturing of the will that is the first secret of '^^^^^iii'^ ^ must bethe Highest Thought. ''My son, give me thine captured.heart."God does not want the head or the under-


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8 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTstanding first, but the heart and the will.The question asked is, "Shall we not muchrather be in subjection?'^ The one who is insubjection has a captured and surrenderedwill, and that is where the battle with self isfought. Shall we live to do our own willor God's, or shall we reach that blissfulsummit when our own will and God's areabsolutely indistinguishable; when our wishesare so surrendered that God's will is ours?

ofpe?fec- ^^^ ^^y ^^y* "These are counsels oftion. such perfection that they are of little use to

us poor erring mortals who may study thisbook; you must think you have a very wisecompany of readers to talk like this." It isnot our wisdom, however, that produces won-derful results, but it is our surrendered will."My son, give me thine heart'' is the secretentrance to the highest spheres of this life.

I have, in this Study, to say a few intro-ductory words about this Father of spirits.How God reveals His will and how He

Wa^Yo The S^^^^ US the power to obey it. The "WayFather? to the Father" will be the subject of our

Second Study.Some may here ask, " Can God reveal the

Way?" To say "No" is of course absurd,


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 9because it limits the Omnipotent and makesthe Infinite finite. There is no reasonable,rational being who can ever say that Godcannot do anything He pleases. The nextquestion is, "Has He revealed theWay? " Theanswer to that is ^'The Book." There is onlyone ^^The Book"; all the others are books,or a book, but this is The Book. There is The Book,only one work in the world called TheBible, and this single fact is of great im-portance.

I would greatly like to turn aside here forone moment in order to establish the claimof this little volume to be a revelation ofthe Highest Thought from God a truerevelation; and the reason I dwell on it forone moment is because the claims of theBible have been so greatly disputed. In thefirst place, this book that we all possesshas, at the present day, nearly 2000 yearsafter it was written, a single circulation that, its unique

, circulatioD,I beheve, exceeds in extent the united cir-culation of every book of its size in any oneyear.That is to say, if you take all the books

published in one year of men's writings ofthis size, this one old collection of sixty-six


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lO STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTwritings, most of them belonging to a smallobscure nation which is scattered all overthe world, the Jews, probably exceeds innumber at the present day annually thecombined circulation of all other bookspublished in one year of its size. To comparethe circulation of this book with any othersingle book is of course absolutely ridiculous.

Compared Yoi instance, I suppose the greatest bookShakes- we have in England is the works of Shake-peare or , . , . r 01 iPlato. speare, but the circulation of Shakespeare

is absolutely as nothing compared with thatof the Bible. The greatest of the ancientbooks, taking a work about the age of theBible, would be the writings of Plato; butyou would require a very powerful microscopeto see the number of the works of Platocirculated compared with the Bible. Thereis nothing on earth to compare with "TheBook" in circulation, and this hard, crudefact has to be faced in the first place by thosewho place it on a level with other books anddeny its special inspiration,

fcrce^be-^^ There must be something about this bookhind the that makes it circulate in such amazingBible? ^

quantities in every language and every coun-try over the face of God's earth at the pres-


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS IIent day, and the question is, "What is theforce that gives it this perennial vitaHty?"Then you have here in the Book sixty-six it^s^ perfectbooklets bound together, written by inde-pendent writers, most of whom never saweach other, and many of whom never heardof each other, and whose Hves were spreadover some two thousand years of time; andyet when these booklets are bound togetherthey produce a complete harmony and fur-nish cross references to each other's ideas thatgives you a conception of sixty-six performersin some great oratorio, meeting haphazard ^he^Biblein the orchestra one afternoon, never having oratorio,seen each other, or heard of each other, orseen each other's scores, or knomng the titleof the complete piece, but each playing hispart for the first time, and yet succeedingin producing perfect music. You will atonce say there must have been somewherea Master Hand, a composer as well as aconductor for this orchestra to produce thiswonderful harmony of music from sixty-sixindependent performers.

Another amazing thing is this, that this Jjs^^-^^,^book has never been added to. No one character,knows what was its origin. It was not cer-


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12 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTtainly human; we presume it, therefore, tobe Divine. When I say it was not humanI mean that the popular idea that an au-thoritative Council of the Jewish nationbound together an Old Testament is erro-neous. There was nothing of the sort. TheJews never had our Old Testament as such.This Old Testament grew together and sometime before Our Lord's appearance becamea complete whole, but no one knows bywhose authority it so became to the exclu-

The Apoc- sion of the Apocrypha. No one can saywhy the closing chapters (given in the Apoc-rypha) are excluded from the Book ofEsther in the authorized version. There isa hidden reason for it, but I think that noone who compiled it knew that reason. Imight just allude to it for one moment,because such little points are so significant.

I do not know whether any of my readersare fond of botany or not, or of looking atsea shells or animalculae under a microscopeand seeing the infinite perfection in thesmallest things made by God; but here isan instance in literature of the same per-fection.

Esther. In the Book of Esther the word "God"


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 13never appears. God refused to have Hisname in that book because His people hadcast Him off, and although the whole story-is a record of how He intervened on theirbehalf, it is as One behind the scenes whoseName shall not be known. He is incognito;His name is never to be found throughoutthe narration. This fact is now well known.

But what about the chapters that areleft out? Curiously enough the last chapter J.**^ "^^eof Esther ends in the Bible with threeverses; the fourth verse and the remainingchapters are in the Apocrypha; and thefourth verse begins with these words, "AndGod said." The writer had never noticedthat God was never to be found in the book,and all this part that is shut out is full ofHis name, showing it, from our point ofview, to be spurious. But who was cleverenough to think of this? This is only oneinstance out of hundreds of undesignedcoincidences.But if such be the wonders of the Old Wonders of

^ the NewTestament, the New Testament is still more Testament,miraculous. Most people have pecuhar ideasas to what the New Testament is and whereit came from. They think it was a selection


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14 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHT

Its forma-tion isDivine.

Endorsedby theCliurch.

made by the great early Fathers of the Church.As a matter of fact the great Fathers of theChurch assumed no such authority.

The canon of the New Testament bears theimprimatur of no man's name, of no ChurchCouncil, of no human authority. It cametogether; it grew Hke a plant. Its exclusionsand its inclusions are equally remarkable.No one can tell why the letters of Apollosare not in it and the letters of Paul are; noone can tell why the letters of Polycarp arenot in; why some of the beautiful sayings ofSaint Chrysostom are not in: but for someinscrutable reason a Divine hand has causedcertain books from the earhest ages to berecognised as inspired in a particular andpecuhar sense.When these writings, which had become

so regarded, were known as the New Tes-tament, a Church Council then endorsedthe fact and said, "This is the New Testa-ment," but they did not form it or gatherthe book together. It was only after theselection had been made by no known humanagent that they stamped it as Divine bytheir authority.There is yet another remarkable circum-


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 15Stance. It is not only that no one has everbeen able to destroy this Bible, either thej^^^'b'eOld or the New Testament, though attempts strucUbie.have been made to do so by the richest andcleverest and most powerful kings and em-perors with the utmost intensity and deter-mination. As we well know, Voltaire fullythought there would not be a Bible to beseen soon after his death, and as we alsoknow I need not repeat the whole story the house in which he lived at Geneva isnow the Bible House. That is only one inci-dent; the point is this: that since the canonof this New Testament was closed no onehas succeeded in adding another line.You would have thought that the Early J*^ ^^"j^*Church would have said, "But there is Saint to.

Jerome, there is Saint Athanasius, there isSaint Chrysostom, and the wonderful sayingsof Polycarp; we must introduce these andadd to the body of the Scriptures." Theyhave never been able to do so; and in all thetwo thousand years of the Church's history allthe saints of holy life that have written mar-vellous works have never had one word oftheir writings put into this inspired collectionof books that we call the Bible, "The Book,"


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 17It contains words that have been expressly it .contains

coined for this book. The word " love " words.(Agape) was never known until it was writtenin this book. The word ''Jehovah" is pecu-liar to this book.

It contains a story that has not its equal ^* contains-^ ^ a uniquein the world. As the Bishop of London said ^t-ory.the other day, "it is the only story in theworld worth spending your Hfe in telling."

It contains a Personality which, by the it ^^c^cnbes^ "^ a. uniqueconfession of friends and enemies ahke, person-

Pagans, Jews, Turks, and Infidels, is sounique that all men bow down before thatPersonality, though all men may not adoptthe Christian creed, the personality of theMan Christ Jesus.On these and many other grounds I claim

that it is inspired in a peculiar sense andcontains a message from the Father of spiritsto every thoughtful man and woman whichthey would do well to heed. It is a hvingbook; it has given life to thousands.

This book is immortal; it has the seed ofeternal life in it and a power in it tochange the hves of the worst of men intoGod's own likeness; and it is doing so, andhas done so, every day for the last two


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l8 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTthousand years. The sacred books of the

lysa East are not living books. They do notbook. change the lives of men; they do not professto; but this book will penetrate to someSouth Sea Island and change the whole char-acter of its inhabitants by its unique power.There is one more thing about this book

that I must mention. I have been laid upat home for the last three weeks with a littleaccident, and a friend brought to me a mostbeautiful stereoscope and pictures. If youlook with the eye only at the stereoscopicpictures they appear Uke ordinary photo-graphs; but any one who has seen these pic-tures through a stereoscope will agree withme that a moment occurs, when you are look-

We require ing through the stereoscope, when the wholescopic scene leaps into incredible hfe before your

eyes. The mountains stand out and the solidfigure of a man is seen climbing in the fore-ground. You can see behind him and allround him, and the whole scene changesfrom a picture to reality.When does that moment occur? When

you get the stereoscopic vision, when yourtwo eyes, acting together on the two differentpictures, unite them in your brain as one, and

vision.


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 19the whole thing becomes as absolute a realityto you as if you were there on the spot. Ialways consider that stereoscopic vision isone of the greatest marvels that we have,to be able to see solidity from a flat.

In the same way the Word of God becomes it must beS66n witlias absolutely different the moment you get two eyes,stereoscopic vision of the mind as a stereo-scopic picture does when it is really seenthrough the instrument. There are two eyeswhich are requisite to see the Bible with,and the moment we see any part with thosetwo eyes, it is a most extraordinary thing, butthe passage becomes solid, Hfelike ; the wordsleap into their real power and solidity beforeour eyes; and we see in the book somethingwe have never seen before, though we mayhave gazed at it in church or elsewherefor forty years. It becomes real fact, solidtruth before our eyes the moment we getstereoscopic vision.And what are the two eyes that we have

to see it with? The eyes of our understanding The eyes ofthe under-and the eyes of our heart. We have to see standingit with the head and with the heart. We*have to understand it with the head; ourheart has to feel the thrill and power of it;


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20 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTand the moment those two are blendedtogether we get a stereoscopic beauty of theBible which we have never seen before.

I therefore maintain, as I now leave thesubject of the Scriptures, that the whole phe-nomena of the Bible in its circulation, in itsformation, and in its contents are absolutelyunaccountable unless we regard it as coming

All this from God and containing a revelation of Hisproves its Divine will. TMs book has now spread over theorigin. world and the revelation it contains is morepowerful today than it ever has been be-fore. I say "more powerful." Look whatit effects.Some of you may have heard a sort of an

burgh'con- ^^^^ in the papers of the Convention atvention. Edinburgh last year. As a matter of fact

that Convention is registered in Heaven.There never was such an event before uponthis earth since it has been a planet. Menof every division of the Christian faith inunited harmony were there assembled in themost earnest conclave to consider how theycould best advance the interests of Christ'skingdom and secure that His gospel shouldreach every creature who had not yet heardit; and all this done on most practical and


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 21businesslike lines by men who had travelledhalf round the world to unite in Edinburghto consider this subject. Such a thing hasnever been done before, and such is the powerof this book.

This Bible, as I have already said, revealsa special sonship besides the creative power Spedai;

, sonsmp.in whom we live and move and have ourbeing, a special relation to this specialFather of spirits by ties of blood and birthand privilege; so that we are spoken of inthis book as children by birth and by bloodties by being born again; and we are spokenof in this book as sons by adoption, byprivilege, as becoming heirs to coming king-doms in a coming eternity. To many theword "eternity" seems still an empty myth,but to thousands of reasonable and rationaland thinking beings it has become a greaterreaHty than the world in which we live.Many of my friends who study the HigherThought, and all who know the HighestThought, will agree with me that the thingsthat are unseen, which are eternal, are afterall the real things, and that we Hve and movenow in a world of shadows.We get in this new connection with God


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22 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTSonshfp" ^ relationship surpassing that of Adam inwith the Eden. There God walked with man in HisDivine. home in Eden; now man dwells with God in

His home in Heaven. He dwells with theFather of spirits in his spiritual home now,and the man who in his soul and the affec-tions of his heart does not Hve with the Fatherof spirits in His heavenly home has Uttlepower to represent that Father in this world.This is indeed the cHmax of the Highest

^t\g^^" Thought. No higher thought is possibleThought ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^ woman may be livingon this earth and yet be at the same time

in Heaven.That such an idea is not my own and isnot a transcendental vision is shown by thesimple fact that every letter St. Paul wrote and St. Paul was one of the most prac-tical of men was written to people in twoplaces at once. " To the saints and faithfulbrethren in Christ which are at Colosse.'* Thiswas a small village down the Lysander Val-ley not far from Ephesus, and if you hadgone to Colosse you would have seen menand women walking about the streets, but

pkces'at ^^^ would havc obscrved a something aboutonce. them that would have shown you they were


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 23somewhere else at the same time. Youwould have seen they were men who hadhad a heavenly vision; you would have seenthey were men who were wrapt in theHighest Thought; you would have seen theywere dwelling in their souls with the Fatherof spirits, while their feet were walking thestreets of Colosse.So it is with the man or the woman who "^^.^ '^Js'*"and thehas grasped with any power the meaning of lower life,my text; "Shall we not much rather he insubjection unto the Father of our spirits, andknow life more abundantly,'" by having oursouls set free to Hve in the highest regionsof thought, of power, of life, of enjoyment sothat our outward hfe down here may be areflection of the joy that our inward spiritslive in; so that in a sense no one can touch uswithout at the same time touching in somemeasure the Father of spirits. Such is pos-sible, such is probable, such is the absolutesober truth concerning numbers who are inour midst to-day.

It was true of Christ. The only Begotten ciinst was' always inSon would never have declared the Father, two places.His life in Palestine would never have beenany marvel if while He was living there He


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24 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTwas not all the time in Heaven. The Onewho came down from Heaven was the Sonof Man who is in Heaven, and on earth Hewas a man who dwelt in the bosom of theFather in Heaven all the time. That is whatmade Him so supremely happy.He was called ''The Man of Sorrows"

because He Hved in a world of sorrow forwhich He felt intensely, but He had Hismoments of happiness; and I sometimesthink He used sometimes to hide His happi-ness, though He could not hide His sorrows.He used to retire apart to a mountain to bealone with His Father, and who can tell the

^"^s and ^'^^ ^^^ delight of such moments of spiritualsorrows, communiou? They may be concealed from

us, but there is not the slightest doubt thatit was in the power of that hidden Hfe thatthe perfect life of Christ was lived on earth.So with us in our poor measure. This rela-tionship, as I say, is known and enjoyed bythousands. I will just add one word aboutit and I have done.We read a great deal and we are very muchinterested in the new power which has latelybeen developed. I am very sorry to seethat, in the papers, it is constantly being


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THE FATHER OF SPIRITS 2$called now the new arm for warfare. Everynew invention seems to be cursed with thenecessity of being dragged in as a new meansof destroying other people. I refer to aviation. AviationIt is a wonderful thing, it is a new thing, and Bible.it is a thing that interests us all. It is athing which in its spiritual aspect is very oldin the Bible. As you know, it is talked aboutin the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, to which Iwill most briefly allude in closing.Young men fail; young men faint; people

get tired of the journey and the dust and themud and the weariness of Hfe in going throughtheir seventy years of existence in this world,and they have not strength enough to gothrough it without weakness and wearinessand ennui and so on. But Isaiah says ^Hheythat wait on the Lord shall change their ability"

Before they waited on the Lord, before they How to fly.knew the Father of spirits, before they soaredinto the regions of the Highest Thought theycould walk and they could run, but there isone thing they could not do, they couldnot fly. But ^^ they that wait upon the Lordshall change their ability'^; they shall receivea new power that they never had before^Hhey shall mount up with wings as eagles.''^


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26 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTWhere to? To their Father of spirits in

'^epower jjis heavenly home. The moment they dothat what happens? " They shall run and nothe weary, they shall walk and not faint''; andas the Apostle says, "for this cause," becausewe can fly, "we faint not.''The man who has learnt to fly never faints;

the man whose spirit lives with the Father ofspirits in Heaven is never tired of life how-ever he maybe fatigued, but he has an unfadingfreshness, a perennial power about him thatnothing can weary or tire. A man said once toJoshua, "I am eighty-five years old to-day; I

Never am as fresh, as strong and as able as I was forty-grow old. 7 Ofive years ago when I started to walk through

this howling wilderness." Why? Because hehad been living with God in Heaven all thetime. There is the secret of perennial life.Having thus shortly opened the subject in

this very imperfect way I will say no morehere, but I will ask any who are interestedin the development of the Highest Thoughtand I may say it has extremely interestingdevelopments to pass on now to our Sec-ond Study on The Way, the way to thatFather of spirits of whom I have brieflyspoken in this First Study.


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THE WAY


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SECOND STUDYTHE WAY

THE first problem of the Highest Thoughtis that which concerns our relation tothe Father of spirits. We saw that life inits fullest sense was only found in those andonly enjoyed by such as Hved in subjectionto this Father of spirits, and that in this sur-render of the will lay the secret of a satisfied J^^^ ^^^^^and successful life and the entrance to theii^^.highest state of holiness and happiness. Butthe point that remains for our present con-sideration is how this Father of spirits canbe reached by mortal man, and the answeris found in the encouraging and delightfultitle of our Second Subject "The Way."Take a brief survey of the world as it is Jg'^ft Ts?'^''*at this moment and consider the seething,struggling mass of mankind over the wholeworld, striving in all directions for diverssorts of objects which in themselves yield nosatisfaction when attained. Look across the

29


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30 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTAtlantic at the picture of the great Americannation, with its politics and its millionaires,and consider that here we are supposed tosee the latest advances and evolution of man-kind in its intelligence and wisdom. Whatan incredible and amazing picture it presents!

Prcpara- Tum to the older countries of Europe andtions for . *^war. observe the nations here spending some 500millions in preparing for a war not yet de-clared, but which curiously by common con-sent is morbidly declared to be inevitable,and this for no earthly reason that is known.Look upon these perplexing problems of ourboastful race as they are to-day and thenturn your eyes away from mankind to theFather of spirits, who loves all these strug-gling, striving creatures, and mark that forthousands of years, owing to the Divine sparkwhich is in every man, the deepest aspirationof the human race has been to find a way toGod.

probiSsf You remember how the talented authorof "No. 5 John Street," a book of remarkablepower, stood on the steps of the RoyalExchange one day, as he might have donethis morning at 12 o'clock, and seeing themasses coming to and fro, incessantly hurry-


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THE WAY 31ing and bustling in front of him at theMansion House in the City of London, won-dered what it was all about what theywere all aiming at; what was the ultimategood they were seeking; what all this con-fusion, like the crowded movements in a hiveof bees, meant, and whither it all tended;but he could find no satisfactory answer.We have now before us, however, a won-derful subject to consider,whether therereally is a Way across the impassable morass The im-

. . passableof mens opinions and ideas and all the morass,seething, struggling confusion of this world'saspirations and religions that leads to theFather of spirits. Here and there an atten-tive observer may see a few, silently thread-ing their way through the bog, across themorass, holding some unseen clue whichappears to guide their footsteps, so that theyfall neither on the right hand nor on theleft, but seem to be steadily progressing inIndian file across the wilderness of this worldtowards a heavenly home. We cannot crossthis limitless bog, this pathless forest withoutfinding the Way.

Travellers in Africa will tell you that anAfrican path is the most wonderful thing


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32 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTthere. They will speak of trackless forestshundreds of miles in extent, with a singleway not above a foot broad, formed throughcountless generations by the footsteps of oneman after another, along which alone you

An African can travel through that pathless forest inforest path. ,safety to reach the other side. So is there aWay, narrow though it be, to the Father ofspirits, and there are some of my readerswho may have found this Way and somewho may not. But these latter who areearnest souls will find it; for they are un-doubtedly seeking it, and they that seekshall find.

Is there a Look once again on the picture of life.a way '- ^across? On one side of the pathless forest and the

limitless bog is the restless crowd; on theother side the Father of spirits waiting forhis children to come to Him. The onequestion is. Is there a Way between theseeker and the sought from man to God?How are we to find it? This is indeed whatall the world, the serious world, is seeking inone way or another to-day.

Well may we call these Studies in theHighest Thought, for they seek to solve thehighest problems and the deepest yearnings


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THE WAY 33of human life. Never were there so many-altars to unknown Gods as at this moment, a hundredaltars toIf St. Paul saw one on Mars Hill we see a unknownhundred in London to-day. I do not lookat them all as perversions from the faithfar from it; though undoubtedly to shut theeye against the light is a very different thingfrom groping in the dark before the lightshone; there are determined gropers in thedark who still, seemingly ignorant (perhapswillingly) that the true Light shines, seek forthemselves for one reason or another someoriginal path, some way of their own to findthis Father of spirits.

I would not for a moment cast a doubt on Our threeguides.the earnestness or reality of their quest, butI would point out to them that there arefor all three guides, and three guides only,that can help us to find the true and rightway. We have been given by God reason,emotion, and will. These are the three partsof the human mind or spirit the reason orintelligence, the emotion or heart, and thewill.Now consider our question as to the Wayin the light of these three guides. First iiioi'^^asonl^*the light of reason or experience.


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34 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTIf I am in earnest in seeking a way to the

Father of spirits that I may live as I havenever lived before, let me see if the voiceof experience has nothing to say. Are thereany who have found this Way? Are theyHving to-day or in past ages? In answer

An appeal J jigaj. thousands and tens of thousands ofto thou-sands, witnesses, who appeal with an irresistiblevoice to my intelligence and reason, saying

one after another, not only by their voicesbut by their hves, ''We have reached thegoal. The Divine is our Father. We knowexperimentally what life more abundantlymeans."

S^pTthe? ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^^^ *^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^y ^yrh^t which they found this Father was through

Jesus Christ His Son. All language of ex-perience throughout all ages of those whohave found the Father of spirits tells usit was by one means, and by one meansalone; thus corroborating by experience thewords of Holy Writ which says, "No onecrosses this bog, traverses this impenetrableforest Cometh unto the Father (of spirits)but by Mer

If we turn from experience, reason, andintelligence to the heart or the instinct, we


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THE WAY 35find the same finger pointing to the sameWay. Look, for instance, at two ignorantmen who are seeking the way to the Fatherof spirits. One morning in despair theytake a walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. T^ ^>s-' aplesA stranger joins them; they know him not. |?ing toHis words speak for themselves, not to theirreason, but to their instincts, to their hearts."Was not our heart burning within us whilehe spake to us in the way, while he opened tous the Scriptures" that led us to the HvingWay?"

I appeal to my readers if this burningof the heart has not revealed to some ofus the Hving Way; and whether those vitalinstincts implanted by Almighty God within ^^J^^jus have not by His Spirit responded to theistinct.voice without and owned that Jesus Christis the way to the Father?

There is yet one other guide, that of the?- The sub.Will as it bows to authority. When the voiceof authority speaks it is a question of thesubmission of the will to it. We turn to theBook and we find these words "/ am theWay." If the will bows to that, we havefound it; if we hesitate we have still thequestion whether experience does not say


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36 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTthe same thing, whether the inward voiceof the heart does not burn with the sameanswer; and if these three agree in onesurely we can have no doubt whatever that inaccepting it as a final repl}'- we are followingno cunningly devised fable when we proclaimthat the Way, the only intelKgible way, theonly practical way, across the morass of thisworld to the Father of spirits is Jesus Christ,His Son, Our Lord.

A threefold A threefold cord is not quickly broken.cord. The voice of reason affirms the truth by ex-perience; the voice of emotion confirms itthrough the echoes of our heart; and thevoice of authority proclaims it to our willin the words "7 am the Way."The Book wherein this is written stands

apart from all others, and to it alone, as wehave seen, is the definite article ever applied the Book. There is one Son who standsalone from all the other sons that this Fatherof spirits has in His vast family; He only

Foiir has the definite article the Son. The othersarticles, are SOUS, or a son; He is the Son. The Son

is proclaimed in the Book as the Way to theFather all is definite, authoritative, andclear.


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THE WAY 37Now if you will take the trouble to look for

one moment at the close of Matthew xi, you ^o^g^"come to a topic of great interest in connec- ^^^ thetion with our subject. '' Neither doth anyman know the Father save the Son, and he toWHOMSOEVER THE SON WILLETH TO REVEALHIM." The only One who knows the Fatherof spirits is the Son; and the only ones inaddition who can possibly know on earth thisFather of spirits are those to whom the Sonwilleth to reveal Him.To whom does He will to reveal Him?

He continues immediately without a break,'^Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavyladenJ' Why? "That I may reveal to you Christthe Father, because I am the Way." The reveals theonly One who can reveal the Father of spirits ^^t^^'-to our spirits, that we may live, is the Son,and He wills to reveal this Father to allwho are weary and heavy laden and who willcome to Him. "Come unto me all ye thatare weary and heavy laden and I will giveyou rest." "How do I give you rest? Bymaking known the Father unto you. I amthe only One who can do it."An amazing metamorphosis takes pl^-ce ^g^^*f

in the human heart, however restless, how- ^o"^?^"^^-


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38 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTever anxious, however weary, perplexed,dismayed, distressed it may have been,the moment the Father of spirits, revealedto us by the Son, becomes in very deed andtruth known to us as our Father, forall trouble vanishes. For the first time inour lives our souls are at rest.

Professor Profcssor William Tames, of Harvard, theW. James . .on conver- great American psychologist, who has recentlypassed away, attributed a great part of thejoy and delight of what is called conversionto the fact that at that moment the wholebeing of man became at rest, because for thefirst time to use an expressive phrase whichhas passed into somewhat cant usage he is

Spirit, soul, then "In tune with the Infinite." That isand bodyat rest. to Say, Spirit, soul, and body are at rest with

the Father of spirits through His son JesusChrist Our Lord.The ineffable calm that comes over the

spirit when, by means of this Way, itreaches the Father is of such a real, solid,lasting character that I could confidentlyappeal to the testimony of thousands at thismoment who five in Him, and move in Him,and have their being in Him, and find arefuge from the strife of tongues in the secret


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THE WAY 39presence of the Most High, in the midst ofthe whole confusion of this world.

It is for this reason that the Son appeals '^^y^i'],^^ and God 3.to us to come to Him if we are weary andheavy laden. Why? Because he says, "Ihave got a burden too. You toiling mil-lions are not the only burden-bearers. Ihave got a burden; I have got a yoke, but"wy yoke is easy and my burden is light"Why? ^'Because my delight is to do thewill oj my Father." Who are the toilsome,groaning men of the world? The men whoare doing their own wills from morning tonight. What makes a man move withouteffort, with an easy yoke and a light burden?Simply learning to love to do God's willinstead of his own. From the moment hedoes this his hfe, instead of a sigh, has be-A>ngforcome a song, instead of a toil has becomea pleasure, instead of perpetual failure hasbecome an assured victory. And this iswhat always happens.

There is no difficulty or mystery about it.The moment I know my Father, so greatis He, so full of love, that He captures myheart, and I cannot choose but do His will,because the moment He is made known to


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40 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTme by the One who is ^HJie Way, the Truth,and the Life " His will becomes the greatestpleasure of my life.Now that is what is set before us inS. Matthew xi, that there is only One whoknows the way to the Father, that He isready and wilUng to show it to all who areheavy laden, that the moment they take itthey cease to be weary and heavy laden,that they find perfect rest to their souls;and though they still have the common lot,the daily toil, the constant drudgery, theburden is no longer heavy, and they are no

Jas^ ^the ^o^g^^ weary. The yoke is easy and theburden burden light from the moment they love to dolight. . '^ ^the will of God, because He has now becomeknown to them as their Heavenly Father.

I now turn to another description of "TheWay" in S. John x, where there is a passagewhich I am sure will delight us. We thereread, "/ am the Door'''' that is the Way."/ am the Door; by Me if any man enter inhe shall he saved, and shall go in and go out,and shall find pastured What does the Dooradmit me to?

The Way In the first place it is the WAY OFof Life. "^LIFE; it brings me into Hfe. It brings


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THE WAY 41me into life because before that Way, thatSon, that Christ, that Saviour could be-come the Door for me into the Father'shome He had himself to lay down His hfe,and it is only through the Cross that Ienter in.

Oh, that Cross! If we could only see itas it is, with its arms stretched out as itwere on a dead world, in life-giving powerif they would but accept it, or even liepassive to receive its blessing. As EKshastretched out his arms and lay on thedead body of the widow's son and broughthim back to life, so the Cross of Christ, Tjie power'of thein its Hving power, the atonement made Cross ofby this Son of the Father, will restore allto life who will have it. The colour willcome into the cheeks, the chest will beginto heave, the limbs will begin to move, andin the force of a new Hfe that dead spiritshall rise through the quickening power ofthe Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ,who is the Way. There on the Cross theSaviour hung; there He ever is before theeye of faith, stretching out His arms of sal- J^"^!JJ^'vation for all the world, that everyone whotioi^-is weary and heavy laden may find, through


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42 STUDIES IN THE fflGHEST THOUGHTHim, the way to the Father across the path-less forest of this world.That is the picture, and it is because ofthis that He is "the Way of Life." Themoment the Cross is accepted in my heart,the moment this Way is revealed to me, Ireceive a fresh life, and pass in through thedoor, and enter the Way of Life. Till thenI am practically dead, as regards the Father.He is far away beyond the forest, at theother side of the morass; and I cannot knowor speak to Him without Christ.

The Way Secondly, the Way is the WAY TO THEFathe'r. FATHER.The Way Thirdly, the Way is the WAY OF LIB-of Liberty. ERTY, bccausc its law is love. I amThe sto ^Iways reminded here, in connection withof a collie, liberty and love, of a collie dog that I had

in London for some years, and being ofgreat value, was never taken out except ona strong steel chain securely fastened to itsbrass collar.But on one never to be forgotten day,

when that dear dog of mine, who is nowburied in the little animals' cemetery at HydePark, came up and stood by me to havethe chain fastened on his collar (for he knew


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THE WAY 43he must not go out without it), I said,"No, no chain for you. We have donewith chains." I opened the front door andout he bounded, for the first time free; andyou would have thought he was going awayto the end of the world, and that I wouldnever see him again.But he had not gone to the entrance of Jj^^^^

the Terrace before he looked at me, ranback again, and there he was trotting be-hind me. What was the secret? He hadlearned to know me, and having known mehe could not choose but love me with hispoor dog's heart not because I was good,but for the simple fact that I was hismaster.A dog must love his master, and thoughhe may be a worthless drunkard, he willlove him just the same. A dog's heart isheartf'the most pathetic thing on earth. Once hegives it he needs no chain. He was nowjoined to me by a stronger chain than anyblacksmith could make, the golden chainof love.

It is the same with our poor hearts. Wehave not got dog's hearts our hearts arenot as faithful as those of a dog. Alas, the


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44 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHThuman heart is not so loyal as even theaffection of poor dumb animals, though inintelligence, as the passage below shows, wefar exceed them. Nevertheless it remains

To know true that once our souls know this FatherGod IS tolove Him. of spirits as our Father we cannot choose

but love Him, and from that moment weunderstand the meaning of this word: ''Beye not as the horse, or as the mule, which haveno understanding; whose trappings must bebit and bridle to hold them in. I will counselthee with mine eye upon thee." It is enoughfor God to indicate where He wishes us to go,for us to run, because the whole service, thewhole life now is a life of love; and a lifeOF LOVE IS A LIFE OF PERFECT LIBERTY.

Se^n*^*^" There is no bondage in true Christianity.Christian- There is the most terrible bondage in theity. ... . .Christiamsed Judaism which most of us

substitute for it: ''Thou shalt do this andthou shalt not do that, thou shalt go hereand shalt not go there; thou shalt say thisand not say that."Look at the verse before us. "I am the

Door. By Me if any man enter in he shallbe saved." That is, he is brought to God, andthe moment he is saved and understands this


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THE WAY 45law of love, from that moment he is a freeman. ^'He shall go in and out and findpastured'

I never understood that. I understoodthat if I went in I would of coursefind pasture. I would go into the Church where toand into religious circles and into Chris- ture.tian company, and I should find pasturethere because these are "sacred." Yes, butwhat if I go out into secular scenes, shall Ilose all? Must I keep in the fold? No ! Theone who goes in and out of the front door isnot a servant. The very fact of this goingin and out shows that he is a son and belongsto the house. He is the son of his father,and he is free to go in and he is free to comeout.

Yes, it may be so, but then of course ifI go out I shaU not get any pasture. Ah!'^ shall go in and out and find pasture'^ inboth. The distinction between sacred and ^"^ '^f^*^or secular.secular no longer exists. All belongs tomy Father; He gives me all things richly toenjoy. From henceforth I call nothing com-mon or unclean, and I am as near Him inmy recreations and pleasures as in my mostearnest devotions. It would pain me if it


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46 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTwere not so, because the cord that binds meto him is a cord of love.You remember Brother Lawrence, 'thatpoor servant in the seventeenth century, whowas a cook in a monks' kitchen in Paris, how

ti?e ?/*he ^^ testified to this? He found pasture every-presence of where. He said that it did not matterOod.

whether he was on a canal boat going tobuy wine for the use of the monastery, orwhether he was standing before a hot firecooking the monks' dinner, with peopletalking all round him and shouting a hun-dred contradictory orders, he was nearer toGod in his soul at such moments than whenhe was kneeling before the altar in theChurch.

I "go in and out and find pasture.^' I ama free man. Free! Why? Because I ambrought to God by Him who is the Way,and from henceforth the chain that bindsme is the law of love which is indeed thelaw of liberty.Now how am I to start and tread this

rece^"fon ^^^^^scd Way? There must be first a wilUngof Christ, reception of Christ. One verse will make

that clear, John vi. 21: "Then they were will-ing therefore to receive Him into the boat: and


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THE WAY 47straightway the boat was at the land whitherthey were going." This is a wonderful pic-ture. Here is the little boat, or if youlike to keep up my simile, the little partyof travellers that want to cross this greatforest to the Father of spirits. Here isOne who offers to show them the way.The moment they willingly receive Him ^^jj^*gjg

into their midst and accept Him as the^iiore.Way they are across the forest and in thearms of their Father. No more darkness,no more danger, no more storms, no moredoubts. The moment we wilHngly receiveChrist into our Uttle ship of Hfe we touchthe shore. We have reached it; it takes notime at all.

Persons may take up this book, for ex-A J^^ample, largely ignorant of these truths of moment,the "Highest Thought," and reading thatJesus Christ the Son is the Way to theFather of spirits may lift up their heartsand say, "I willingly receive Thee into myheart. Lord Jesus. I willingly take Thee asmy Saviour and my Way to the Father.Show us the Father and it sufficeth us." Andthe moment they willingly receive Him intothe soul they are at the land whither they


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48 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTare going. They have reached their Home.So simple, so instantaneous is the change

The sur- when once the will is surrendered.will. Observe here again the force of the ques-

tion "Shall we not much rather be in sub-jection to the Father of spirits and live?"Shall we not much rather willingly receiveHim into our ship and reach the land whitherwe are going? No more tossing, no moredistress! It is wonderful what a changeoccurs when this soul-surrender is broughtabout.

Perhaps I may turn aside for a momentand relate a personal experience that happenedto me the other day. One hesitates to saymuch about it; I have never spoken of ityet, but it just occurs to me that it may beof some interest in this connection.

Adven- J was yachting on the Zuyder Zee with athe Zuyder party of youug frfeuds, and was at a verydistant and lonely part of it, in the island

of Urk, and I, with all the party of twelve,had to catch the mail train to London ata certain hour from Enkhuisen, which is atown at the extreme top of the Zuyder Zee.We set sail from Urk as our captainthought with hours to spare, but he very


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THE WAY 49soon found the wind was contrary and astorm began and the sea rose, and things T^^ ^.^^^^*-* ' m a storm.got from bad to worse. I was down inone of the cabins, and received messagesfrom the deck from time to time. At lastit got near the hour when the train shouldstart and I then sent word to the captainand said, "When shall we be in?" Hereplied, "I can't say at all; it may be twohours or it may be seven hours; at any ratethere is not the slightest hope of your catch-ing that train."

I was in despair, when rehef came. Itj^st.'^^^^was not with me a question exactly of receiv-ing Christ into the ship, but this thoughtcame upon me. I had been reading somebooks at the time about the power overwind and waves of various occult forces, andI thought, "If these various forces can beexercised in this way, surely Almighty Godcan at His will and with the greatest easedo as He pleases." Therefore in the cabin,without sajdng a word to any one, I justoffered up a short and earnest prayer that if Prayer for* '^ "^ change ofIt was God's will we should catch the train, wind,then He would be pleased so to alter thewind that we could enter the harbour.


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50 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTYou know how little faith we have in mate-

rial prayers nowadays, and I do not much likespeaking of them myself because anybodymay say, " The tiling might occur by chance, 'which of course is possible. What reallyhappened was this.

I offered up this prayer, because we werein great distress about the matter, and Ihad hardly concluded it when my nephewfrom the deck shouted out, "The captainsays we shall be in Enkhuisen in half anhour." I said, "It cannot be. He told mehe could not tell when we should be in, thatwe might be two or seven hours." But mynephew repHed, "He says the wind hasveered right round, and is now blowing fairfor the harbour."

It certainly was not five minutes after thatreased prayer was offered that the wind changed to

the opposite direction and blew us straightInto the harbour and we were in plenty oftime for our train. This may be taken asa striking illustration of the text, for we wereimmediately at the land whither we wishedto go.

Aperpiex- jVfy closing word to-day is this. Therekm. may be some perplexed readers who may


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THE WAY SIsay, "I have got Jesus Christ in my ship.I am a Christian; I know something of theseStudies in the Highest Thought, though notperhaps exactly in the way you have beenputting it to us, but I must say that myvoyage is such a rough one that I sometimeswonder if I am in the right way."

I will in conclusion refer such to one other The truesolution.Scripture, Matthew xiv. 22, which I think willgive those of us who are much tried, andwho have very troubled and distressed hves,the greatest comfort. ^'Straightway Jesusconstrained the disciples to enter into the boatand to go before him unto the other side.. . . But the boat was now in the midst ofthe sea, distressed by the waves, for the windwas contraryy Here Christ absolutely con-strained the disciples to get into the boat;therefore it must have been by His will thatthey left the shore.But I want to point out to you, from thiswonderful passage, that though Christ con-strained them to get into the boat, yet thewind was contrary from the moment they^?^^^^^^got in it, and the sea was rough. It may rough? , . waves.be the same with us.We often ask God to show us the way, and


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52 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTthen when it becomes rough and tossing anddifiScult we begin to doubt that it can beHis way. But a contrary wind and roughwaves are no proof whatever that we arenot in God's path and in God's way andgoing straight to the Heavenly Home. Hereis an instance. No one can say that thesedisciples were not right in going, becauseChrist sent them; He constrained them.Why? Because the blessings of our Hfeare not blue skies and smooth seas. Theblessings of our Hfe He in learning the lessons

Our_ in the Highest Thought about our Father's

education. wiU and in the psychological education ofthe spirits and souls of men.

Christ had a great lesson to teach thesedisciples how to find Him in their deepestdistress. And it was necessary there shouldbe winds and storms in order that in theirmidst they could learn their lesson, for theycould learn it nowhere else. And I believethere are some lessons that every Christiansoul has to be taught that cannot be learntexcepting when the wind is contrary andthe seas are high. It is only then that the

Christ vision of Christ walking on the water showswalking on ^ '^the water. His power is greater than our troubles and


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THE WAY 53we learn to trust in Christ and in Christalone.

Therefore should any one who is in distress Never. . doubtof hfe through things having gone wrong God's love,

with them, in money, in health, in estate,or in family ties or relations, read this withsore hearts and question with a doubt whichis really suggested by the Evil One, "Canthe Father of spirits love me as He says andlet me be as I am to-day, with my heartsore and cast down; can my Saviour havedirected my path when I find it leads throughsuch troubled waters, with such howling con-trary winds?" To such I say, Yes. Youget the whole picture in this 14th Matthew.The solution is, You are being educated

in God's school. You are being taught to Hardlessons 3l^lean hard upon Him, and to trust better in school,the wisdom and the love of your Father ina way you never could learn but for thesestorms and but for these winds. Take com-fort therefore. You are already in your soulat the land whither you would go. Youcan rest in your spirit in the Father's Home,and although you may need to be edu-cated by the storms of this hfe you can be atrest in the midst of it all, for those waters on


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S4 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTwhich the Saviour walks shall never drownyou.

ofuf**^ Such is the education of the spirit, such isspirit. spiritual psychology. I earnestly commend,

therefore, to all my readers, this study inthe Highest Thought, this acceptance of theonly Way that leads to the Father of Spirits;and would remind you that in the next StudyI hope to go one step further into the mostmysterious subject that we have before usin these Addresses, and one about which per-haps least is known The Inner Shrine.


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THE INNER SHRINE


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THIRD STUDYTHE INNER SHRINE

THE subject of the first of these Studies |^^J^^^in the Highest Thought was the Father studies.of spirits, and we found that life, in its fullestsense, could not be said to be known orenjoyed until we knew this Divine Fatherand were in subjection to Him.

In the Second Study I spoke of the Way bywhich He was reached. We regarded life asa trackless morass or a pathless forest, andon the other side of it stood the Father ofspirits. We saw ourselves walking along asafe but narrow path, that led across theswamp, that led through the forest to theFather's Home. We discovered how to findit; we saw who had first trodden the pathalone and who had now become himself the*'Way," and we saw that, once the path wasentered, our Hves became lives of fullest hap-piness and perfect safety.We have to-day before us a still more study- ^

57


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S8 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTremarkable subject, as we turn our eyes toa third marvel in the "Highest Thought."We must consider it with great caution andwith great care, because the subject is soprofound; and as, after all, we are onlyfinite beings with a limited capacity for ap-prehending these problems of the Infinite,it does not do to tax the mind beyond itspowers. One of the worst things one can

Strcfspec-^ *^' inoreover, is to practise the habit of in-tion. trospection. Self-analysis is always fraught

with more or less danger.To-day, however, we shall be obliged, owing

to the exigencies of our subject, to turn oureyes in upon ourselves and to go through,in this Study, some form of close introspec-tion. We will not dwell too much uponthem, but we must learn something of themarvels within us.Looked at broadly and simply, we who areabout to consider this subject are in the

divPslon*^^ first placc, as we have already seen, tripartiteof man. beings ; according, at any rate, to western ideas.

Eastern philosophers no doubt divide withgreater minuteness the whole human beinginto seven parts; but Christianity and allwestern philosophy are content with three


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THE INNER SHRINE 59the well-known body, soul, and spirit; the^^^tenaiand imrna*body being wholly material ; the spirit being teriai.wholly immaterial and without form orextension in space; while the soul partakessomewhat of the other two being imma-terial so far as it is connected with the spirit,and yet having possibly some slight materi-ality as connected with the body. This,indeed, is the only way in which the well-authenticated and numerous appearances ofnon-substantial forms or ghosts can possiblybe explained.We have also consciousness of body, soul, Triple con-

. . sciousness.and spirit.In connection with the body we have

sense-consciousness consciousness given usby touch, sight, hearing, feeling, etc. byall our senses. Connected with the soul thereis self-consciousness , or mental consciousness,the knowledge of ourselves, by which wecan conduct some kind of introspection orlooking in on our minds. With regard tothe spirit, there is God-consciousness, or acapacity of understanding these deep truthsof the Highest Thought which God seeks tomake known to us.Without some such capacity on the part


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6o STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTof every human being no revelation of Godwould be of the slightest use to us. It wouldbe as useless as writing a Bible for animals,or something of that sort. There must besome faculty within that can respond to thevoice of God without. Observe, therefore,that connected with the body we get sense-consciousness, with the soul self-conscious-ness, and with the spirit God-consciousness.

Again, we find in Holy Writ that before weSpi^tually jja,ve the knowledge of the Father of spirits

we are described as dead, dead in sins andso forth. That refers to the deadness of ourspirits, because they are not in connectionwith this Father of spirits, and thereforenot alive in the highest sense. When peopleare described as dead theologically, from aChristian point of view or a scriptural pointof view, it never means that their mindsare dead; it never means that their bodies aredead. As far as one can analyse it, it meansthat the spirit is dead, dead towards God;that is to say, there is an absence of response,though there he a capacity for it.

I am a Lastly, in these definitions we find that the"ego," or the "I," or the personality I,myself is principally connected with the


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THE INNER SHRINE 6ispirit. No one would say, "I am a body"or "I am a soul." With regard to thosethings they would say, "I have got a body."But if you have got one, it shows you arenot it. You would say also, "I have got amind or a soul." Well, then, you are not"it." But what we are, as nearly as pos-sible, is spirit.

The "ego," therefore, naturally associates J^ritull'"itself with the spirit of man. I am a spirit not a disembodied spirit, but a spiritwith mental and physical qualities,mentalbecause I have got a soul, physical becauseI have got a body. I am, therefore, a tri-partite being.

The subject before us for our Study to-dayis the "Inner Shrine." How shall I explain The innerwhat I mean by this expression? Take acrowd of people at some place of worship.You see ordinary men and women in thedress of the day, yet within many of them,I believe, these Inner Shrines, unknown pos-sibly to their possessors, may assuredly befound. Let me give an illustration of thecontrast between the humble exterior andthe glorious interior of a true Christian man.


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62 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTfl^on^the'' ^^^ wa]k along a gravelled walk wherepath. there are a few dead leaves and a few twigs.

You notice particularly a brown twig or leaflying on the path. And then, a miracleoccurs! Behold, with a glorious flash thatthrills through you, it changes into a visionof transcendent beauty. On the path sud-denly you see flaming scarlet and purpleand yellow, a gorgeous painting of themost exquisite contrasted colours flashes intoyour eye from the gravel, and then it is goneagain, and the brown leaf reappears.What is it?A butterfly, outwardly painted in the

humblest colours, the commonest browns,apparently with the coarsest brush, so as tomake it look Hke a leaf but when it opens

humble ^^^ rcvcals the interior, decorated insideexterior -^[i]^ ^he most gorgcous traccry by the handgorgeous of the Creator.

So with the outward appearance of manya person whom we meet. Inside the great-est splendour, painted by Almighty God;outside an ordinary, quiet exterior. It isonly by a flash now and then that the gloryof the "Inner Shrine" is revealed.Take another illustration, the Tabernacle

interior.


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THE INNER SITRINE 63in the wilderness. Could anything be more The Taber-ugly than that hump of rough brown goats'hair? All that any one saw in the desert ofthe glory of God's house or tabernacle wasa sort of brown mound rising in the midstof a vast camp. If, however, one were pri\'i-leged to go in to the camp and enter throughthe veil, between the pillars into the interiorof the Tabernacle, one would have seenvisions passing all one's imagination. Onewould have progressed step by step untilone reached the inner shrine, the Holy ofHolies, where were concentrated every gloryof radiance and colour.Above purple and blue and scarlet and ^Y'thm and

^ ^ without.fine-twined linen and golden Cherubim; allaround walls of gold; in front the Ark ofthe Covenant, with the golden Cherubimovershadowing the Mercy Seat, and betweenthem the dazzling blazing radiance of Al-mighty God himself, all this was hiddenunder the outer covering of brown goats'hair, reminding us of the contrast betweenthe outside of the butterfly and its gloriousinner wings as they flash on our sight.

It was thus also with Christ. You saw Christ ona humble man walking about the streets of


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64 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTJerusalem and Capernaum, '^ His visage wasso marred more than any tnan's, and therewas no beauty that we should desire Him,''followed by a string of poor Galilean peas-ants, who could not even speak the ordi-nary language of Judea, rough, unculturedcountry folk. But let the wings flash andreveal the hidden glories of the Man ChristJesus, and then you would know what the"Inner Shrine" really meant.

Or, go to that little flat-roofed, one-storiedAt dwelling in a village called Emmaus, withEmmaus. t nothing to distmguish it from other houses, a commonplace exterior. Take off the

roof and look inside, and there you see thehidden glory of the Lord of Life, at home inthe house of two of His friends.

So it is with us. We have within us inthe recesses of our spirit a shrine or an abodewhere God may dwell. But so far from itbeing always a shrine of glory, it may becomeperfectly hideous with darkness and defile-ment. If you want to know to what depths

The degra- this holy Shrine is capable of being degradedthe Shrine, you have Only to look at Matthew xv. i8:

"But the things which proceed out of the mouth;and they come forth out of the heart, they defile


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THE INNER SHRINE 65the man. For out of the hearV^ that is, outof this place wliich ought to be the mostglorious centre of one's being, so defiled, solowered, so degraded it may become that"Ow/ of the heart come forth evil thoughts,murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, falsewitness, railings: these are the things whichdefile the man; hut to eat with unwashenhands defileth not the man.''How, then, speak of glory in connection

with such an abode of shame as our innerbeing may become? Because it may also bea wonderful shrine though, I have pointedout, still connected with a lowly exterior; infact the exterior is never a guide as to whatis within. Look at Saul and look at David! ^fui andDavid.The first a man head and shoulders tallerand finer than any man in Israel, a man wewould all have loved to see. What aboutthe inner shrine? Full of evil thoughts whichcaused him to lose his kingly throne. Lookin contrast at Httle Da\'id, one with nokingly bearing, but with a heart of gold,who could take his harp and from the InnerShrine produce his wondrous psalms.How, then, does this inner part of us be-

come a shrine, and what right have we to say


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66 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTthat such is ever the case? In i Corinthians,vi. 19, is a verse on this subject that I mustread. You can refer to many other scripturesat your leisure, but this one I will quote:"Know ye not that your body" let us takeit to ourselves now and turn the eye ofintrospection inwards "Know ye not that

Our bodies youT hody is a temple of the Holy Ghost which^ ^ is in you" that is, the Holy Spirit of God "which ye have from God? And ye arenot your own; for ye were bought with a price;glorify God, therefore, in your body."The bodies of these Corinthian Christians

are here described as being temples. Thatword "temple" is not the common word;it is Naos, the Shrine, the Sanctuary of God,the Inner Shrine. How can anybody becomesuch after the description given in Matthewof the depth to which it may degrade?Well, this is the way.One day at the door of that Shrine the

Saviour stands knocking, as you may haveseen in Holman Hunt's inimitable painting

Christ at now in St. Paul's Cathedral, "Behold I standthe heart^^ l^c door and knock." Why does He knock?Why not come in without knocking? Be-

cause the door of that shrine has only got a


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THE INNER SHRINE 67handle on its inner side, for no one can entermy spirit but by my own will. You mayadmit devils there, or you may admit theChrist of God. You may be possessed bythe one or the Other.

So there stands the One who is the Way tothe Father of spirits at the door: ^^ BeholdI stand at the door and knock." As I pointedout in the last Study, when we stand at Hisdoor there is no knocking. His door is Christ'salways open; but the door of our heart is alwaysnot. "I am the door " there is no need of a ^^^^'handle there, for the door stands open wide;''by me, if any man enter in" there is noknocking there. We never have to knock,but Christ always has, and the difference isbecause we control the door of our ownspirits by our will, whereas the door of theway of hfe admits all. That door is everopen, ours is ever shut.When we Hke to turn the handle of the

door, when we willingly receive Him, andwhen we say, "Enter into my heart and makeit a Hving sanctuary of God," the thing isdone. But it must be by our own will thatthe door of our heart is opened.

Let me just repeat that once again.


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68 STUDIES IN THE fflGHEST THOUGHTChrist's door is never shut; we never haveto knock, but He always has; because thedoor of our heart is shut, and it can onlybe opened by our own will.

There is only one thing that can come intous without our will, and that is something wewould never willingly admit. You will find

Death Jt SDoken of in Jeremiah, ix. 21, ^^For deathcomes , .without is come up into our windows.^' That is theknocking. . .way death comes m. it cannot come in by

the door because we would never admit it,so it comes in by the window when we arenot looking. It carries us off without ourwill. Death comes in without leave, butlife can only come in by our leave. We cankeep Hfe out, but we cannot exclude death.As I have already shown, we may open this

shrine to evil spirits or to Christ, but it isour will that must open to either.Now supposing that we hear One knockingat the door of this shrine, and our will opensthe door, what happens? We are describedin the scripture as then being "Born againby the Holy Spirit." That is to say, Christ

Christ enters, and by His Spirit He takes possessiontakes pos- q ^]^g^^ inner shrine, and proceeds to make itsession. ' ^

his sanctuary and temple of glory. We are


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THE INNER SHRINE 69then described as having a new nature, anew heart, and a new man.As a reality that word "new" means that

nature, heart, and man are so entirely taken There is apossession of by a fresh Power and conse- '^^'^ ^**^*crated to a new use, as to make them prac-tically new organs and beings. That is whatit comes to. It is not really that any newparts or organs are added to us, but thereis a new power within: and we open ourhearts under the influence of the HighestThought to the Spirit of our Father, theHoly Spirit: He takes possession of our heart,and we become the sanctuary, or shrine, ortemple of the Holy Ghost.What do we find in this Shrine? What

was in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle?What do we see there? We see an Ark andinside that Ark there are three things. Wesee the Tables of the Law, a little pot ofmanna, the bread that came down fromHeaven, and Aaron's rod that budded, thetype of the eternal priesthood.What do we find in our inner shrine?

Three things. The law, as in the Ark of the The law,Covenant, " Thy law is within my heart." ^^^Y^^^"^That is the first. The manna, the bread J'^^^^'^^e


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70 STUDIES IN THE HIGHEST THOUGHTthat came down from Heaven; the humbleChrist, lowl

Alfred T. Schofield - Studies in Highest Thought (1911)

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Transcript of Alfred T. Schofield - Studies in Highest Thought (1911)